


Apologies and Confessions

by Toffeecoco1



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Accidental Love Confessions, Angst, Canon Divergent, Cuddling, Guilt, Hugging, Kuron is mentioned, Love Confessions, M/M, Post Season 6, and they love each other, basically if shance became canon instead of shiro's body not attaching to his soul or w/e, but also fluff, holy shit I wrote something, i guess, one armed hugs are hard, sort of beta'd, theyre both v guilty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-11-05 05:49:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17912954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toffeecoco1/pseuds/Toffeecoco1
Summary: Shiro's safe now, but Lance blames himself for not noticing that he'd been replaced by a clone.





	Apologies and Confessions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fandoms_Everywhere_United](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fandoms_Everywhere_United/gifts).



> Wow I wrote something. It's literally been more than a year. It's for [the shance games](https://the-shance-games.tumblr.com), as a gift for the lovely Kerry. Pretty much all the angst I am capable of.

Lance’s hands were shaking. He’d stopped crying, but if anyone said anything to him he’d probably burst into tears again.

In front of him stood Keith, Hunk, Pidge, Allura, Krolia, Romelle. They were talking about where to go next. How to get to earth. How to get home. And Lance should have been happy. He should have been ecstatic. But all he could think was that Shiro had died and been replaced by a clone, and he hadn’t noticed. For the past few months, Shiro, his hero, his teammate, his friend, and maybe more, had been a clone, and Lance had barely suspected a thing.

The others were pretty engaged in their conversation. Lance was standing off to the side- it wouldn’t be too bad if he just walked off, right? Right.

He turned away, silently stepping over to the Black Lion’s open mouth and up the gangplank.

He took a deep breath, feeling his chest slowly rise and fall. His hands were still shaking and his head was almost throbbing as he stepped in.

“Um… Shiro? Are you awake?” he asked softly.

In front of him was small makeshift cot that Keith had set up. On it lay the former black paladin, with his new stark-white hair, and without an arm. He looked tired. There were bags under his eyes, and his skin was lacking some color. But despite that, Lance’s heart couldn’t help but skip a beat at the sight of him. Even half-dead and missing an arm, Shiro was _stunning_.

“Lance? Come in,” Shiro replied, sitting up. His eyebrows furrowed at the sight of Lance’s shaky figure. He looked scared, and there were bags under his eyes, too. He looked almost as tired as Shiro. “Are you alright?”

Lance shuddered softly, wrapping his arms around himself. “I- I’m fine, it’s- you’re the one who-”

Shiro shook his head and sat all the way up. Lance did _not_ look fine, and Shiro wasn’t about to let him say he was. He patted the bed gently as an invitation to sit. “Come here. Did you want to talk?”

Lance nodded and made his way over, taking in another shaky breath. “I- I’m so- so sorry,” he choked out, tears welling in his eyes again.

“You’re- Lance- _No_. Don’t cry. Sit down. Tell me what happened.”

Lance sat down on the side of the bed, choking back a sob. “I- I never noticed! And you tried to tell me in the astral realm, and I- I was too dumb to even-”

“Lance. Stop it. Come here,” Shiro interrupted, wrapping his arm around Lance in a slightly awkward one-armed hug. “You’re perfectly smart, okay? One of the smartest people I know. You don’t have anything to feel guilty about.”

Lance scooted closer, leaning into Shiro’s embrace and reluctantly hugging him back. “I- but you died- and I didn’t even-”

Shiro shushed him, rubbing his back gently. “No. You couldn’t have known. Even when we were in the astral realm, I didn’t have enough time to tell you. None of that was your fault.”

Lance let out a soft breath, calming slightly at the feeling of Shiro’s hand on his back. “I… but… he was a clone, and-”

Shiro shook his head. “ _Lance_. Stop it. No one else noticed either.”

“But- you- I-” Lance stammered, sobbing weakly into Shiro’s shoulder. Shiro’s heart ached at the feeling of the wet tears, and he pulled Lance closer.

Shiro sighed softly. “It’s ok. I’m ok now.” In a way he was almost angry- Lance shouldn’t be allowed to feel like this. He was as close to perfection as someone could _get._ Nothing he’d done was wrong.

Lance winced. “He was- he told me he didn’t feel like himself, and I still didn’t get it! And he yelled at me and it hurt, but I somehow still thought that was you! God, I’m- I’m a terrible-”

“I have all his memories,” Shiro interrupted, letting out a shaky sigh. “I remember every single thing he said to you, and I feel as guilty as I would if I’d said them myself. But that wasn’t my fault. And nothing that happened was your fault either.”

Lance pulled away to face him. No. That wasn’t fair. Shiro hadn’t done anything- how could _he_ feel guilty?? “You- but you didn’t- that wasn’t _you!_ You can’t feel guilty for that-“

Shiro smiled weakly up at him. “And you can’t be guilty for not noticing something that _no one_ noticed.”

A low groan escaped Lance’s lips, and he scooted further onto the bed, so he could sit next to Shiro and lean against him. Shiro placed his arm over Lance’s shoulders and pulled him closer. “I hate that you have a point,” Lance huffed, pouting a little.

Shiro smiled faintly. “You seem to be feeling a little better. So if I try to forgive myself, will you do the same?”

Lance nodded slightly, nuzzling into Shiro. Heat started to rise to Shiro’s cheeks. “Good,” he said softly. “Because I don’t blame you for a thing.”

“Well I don’t blame _you_ for a thing,” Lance retorted, looking up at him.

Shiro couldn’t help the soft laugh that fell from his lips asHe gently squeezed Lance’s shoulder.

“I… are you sure everything is okay? That you’re not mad at me?”

Shiro looked down at Lance with a kind smile. Of _course_ he wasn’t mad. “I could never be mad at you.” 

“Do you promise?” Lance asked, meeting his gaze with big eyes. He looked so soft, so beautiful, so _vulnerable_ , that Shiro’s breath was almost taken away. It took every ounce of self control he had to keep from gently cupping that reddened cheek.

“I promise. Besides, I still love- um- you…” he faltered, realizing a little too late what he’d said.

Lance pulled away quickly again, hands on Shiro’s shoulders. His eyes were wide with surprise, and his cheeks a brilliant red. Shiro loved him?? “I- you- you _what??_ Did I hear that right?”

“Fuck,” Shiro muttered in response, looking away. “I… I love you, Lance. And you don’t have to love me back, but…I still love you. You’re stunning, you’re smart, you’re kind, you’re an amazing fighter, and… god, I think I started to realize it not long before I um… yeah. But watching how you performed as the red paladin, I just…”

Lance opened his mouth and closed it again like a fish, his cheeks burning. A high-pitched squeal escaped his lips, and he lunged forward again, wrapping his arms around Shiro’s neck.

Shiro fell back a little in surprise. After a moment, he recovered and placed his arm back around Lance’s waist. “Um- anything to say, buddy?”

“I love you too…” Lance whispered, his voice failing him.

  
  
  



End file.
